I can drop in at Cahill's and train with Olympic level coaches and high level competitors for 10 bones a drop in or 40 a mo. no it's not supported by "the federation". I'd be surprised if the gym you mentioned is actually subsidized by the IJF. I'm gonna guess they are not. If you say they are, I gueeeess... I need proof of this to believe it's true. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Just curious..
ill ask my friends for the info since i can tell you wont sleep right until you have closure on this. I wrestled in high school, till this day I can train with a few local colleges and just about ANY high school for FREE, wrestlers welcome bodies to train with but wrestling is another issue. You find a World class JIU JITSU coach that will teach for $40/month that's not living in Brazil and you have a case. Its simple supply and demand here. Ben Askren is giving a seminar for $40, and hes a GREAT wrestler, now you find me a great Jiu Jitsu guy with comparable accomplishments as Ben that will do the same. Again, your looking at it from one point of view. Everybody wants low rates, but in BJJ, at the moment, it just doesnt work that way. I WISH I could pay $40/month, but im not going to complain simply because i pay $200/month, why? Because I understand why the rates are so high and its really not that complicated. I get along with most of our affiliates, and I have been told that I can come train with them any time I want. does this mean im going to stop paying just because i can train for free somewhere else? i know you would take that chance in a heart beat. I know what im paying for.
Somehow our freestyle/greco club survived for years without the internets, a fancy web page, or a bunch of strict rules, rituals, and regulations.
Survived, sure. But how many of those guys training are looking to open their own club and make a good living off of it? BJJ is just run differently, i don't see why you cant understand that. You don't see wrestling businesses around do you? Why? Because the demand just isn't there. Every 10 or so miles there's now a BJJ school in SoCal, how many wrestling businesses are there? Wrestlers are now finding jobs at MMA schools and.... BJJ academies looking to implement takedowns into their game. Some colleges are fighting for funding to keep wrestling alive. Unfortunately wrestling is too tough for some people. In my academy there are doctors, lawyers and professionals that do this as their hobby. You gotta be in shape for wrestling, its a more physically demanding sport. If your resting, or taking up mat space, you get kicked out, in BJJ, your a paying customer and nobody is going to yell at you to get your ass off the mats, its bad business. Thats what you can't seem to understand, its a business, nobody is here to do anybody any favors. My instructor has many affiliated schools, I don't hear them complaining "Jean Jacques, why do I have to pay you this much money just to put your name on my website/window/pamphlet". They all run successful academies. It's their choice to be affiliated or not, but they chose to pay the fees because people DO care about the name. Does it change the way they teach? nope.
A US greco roman Olympic wrestling coach. what a bargain for me :icon_chee
Yes a bargain for you, the only side you seem to be thinking of. Either he has a primary job or he isn't making a great living off just that (compared to a successful BJJ instructor in the US) or hes satisfied.
here's some simple math
$40x100 students (are there that many training there?) = $4000
Does he pay to rent the place out?
$200x100 students (there are around 200 last i heard) = $20,000 a month....
Our instructor Pays to have a state of the art facility and regular daily maintenance, nobody likes ringworm. That cost money.
Which would you rather be making?
If your wrestling coach could charge more, he would.
I've put in more than my share of time, money and energy to the grappling community for half a decade as a wrestling coach. I personally never charged anyone a dime, and came out of my pocket plenty to make sure those kids had some grub after weigh ins, and gas to go to tourneys.
Your a generous man, but nobody is going to make sure a grown man has been fed or drive him to weigh ins. Are we talking about running a kids club or a business? I know tons of parents when I was in high school who were involved in many ways, for free, so what? Even a teacher who was not on the coaching staff (meaning no money) that loved wrestling and helped the coaches out and trained with us.
there's always going to a place for people who want elite personalized training and are willing to pay for it.
now your using your head.
i personally wouldnt go to a place that charges for "testing". but i know a near by academy that is still there and growing, all while charging for testing and a forced private. Part of the reason i don't or wont ever train there, but thats their biz and it seems to be working.